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Coolcation: where Europe stays cool and quiet in summer

Index 1.1 · As of · 282 travel regions

Of 265 European travel regions, 74 stay below 20 degrees daytime mean in summer, and 37 of those also sit below the European crowding median of 20.52 overnight stays per square kilometre and week. The coolest is Island at 6.0 degrees. The table lists the 20 coolest of them.

The methodology explains how this is calculated.

  1. 282travel regions

    Travel regions

    all travel regions with a crowding score in the index

  2. 265travel regions

    Starting set

    of those, distinct NUTS 2 bases — regions sharing one carry identical figures and count once

  3. 262travel regions

    Temperature

    of those, with daytime temperatures for June, July and August

  4. 74travel regions

    Threshold

    of those, with a daytime mean below 20 °C

  5. 37travel regions

    Crowding

    of those, below the European summer median of 20.52 overnight stays per km² and week

  6. 20travel regions

    Shortlist

    the leaders of this list appear in the table, at most 20

Coolcation: where Europe stays cool and quiet in summer

Sorted by daytime mean, ascending. Every row sits below the European summer median of crowding density — that is the condition under which this list holds, and the density column is the only one on which the regions can be compared with each other.
RankTravel regionCountryDaytime mean °COvernight stays/km²/weekDirect origin countries
1IslandIsland6.03.0021
2NordnorwegenNorwegen9.21.4616
3InnlandetNorwegen12.12.53–no value
4Norwegische FjordeNorwegen13.26.1321
5Övre NorrlandSchweden13.50.9311
6Agder og Sør-ØstlandetNorwegen14.26.4113
7Northern and WesternIrland15.114.187
8Pohjois- ja Itä-SuomiFinnland15.40.8019
9SouthernIrland15.518.0819
10Trøndelag/TrööndelageNorwegen15.62.1115
11Mellersta NorrlandSchweden15.71.295
12Eastern and MidlandIrland15.920.2530
13Länsi-SuomiFinnland16.22.005
14Norra MellansverigeSchweden16.52.989
15ÅlandFinnland16.514.512
16Etelä-SuomiFinnland17.32.8111
17Oslo og VikenNorwegen17.312.5030
18MidtjyllandDänemark17.716.4311
19Helsinki-UusimaaFinnland17.717.5730
20EstlandEstland17.83.9825

Cool on its own is not enough: a cool but crowded destination is no coolcation, so the second condition is part of the selection rather than merely a column. The list is sorted by temperature — the regions are still only compared on crowding density.

The daytime temperature is a monthly mean from the climate normal period, not a forecast. It is missing for 3 travel regions (Azoren, Madeira and Spitzbergen und Jan Mayen); they cannot appear in this list even where they would belong.

Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2025.

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These numbers may be reused with attribution, always with the version and the data date — without both, a number cannot be checked.

ExampleHolidayHub, crowding index 1.1, as of

Full methodology